


Nicki And Judy Are Unemployed And Still Stoned

by rabbitgirl



Series: Zootopia 2: But Actually, Fuck Cops [2]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Depression, Drugs, F/F, Marijuana, Post-Canon, Rapidly oscillating between fluff and hurt/comfort, Romance, Slice of Life, Transgender
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 13:44:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14379870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rabbitgirl/pseuds/rabbitgirl
Summary: Judy isn't a cop anymore. But without that, what is she?Well, high, for one.Judy continues to explore the fascinating world of Being Stoned And Depressed. Nicki is there, too. They try to keep each other stable. Slice of life, Hurt/Comfort, Drama, Romance, Political Diatribes, whatever. Mature for language, drugs, and grownup stuff.





	Nicki And Judy Are Unemployed And Still Stoned

**Author's Note:**

> happy 4/20 :^)

In the last week and a half, Judy has done very little other than smoke, watch TV, and think about how cute Nicki is. Sometimes, she gets to admire said fox in person; sometimes it's just her in the apartment, but Nicki is never more than a text message away. It's nice.

It sucks.

Everything sucks and right now, she feels better than she's ever felt in her entire life. The good eclipses the bad, but it's not opaque; you can still see the bad under it, a scant two hours away; it's like a rainbow film of chemical positivity on the surface of a whole lake of _Suck._

Whatever. Inhale, hold for five, exhale.

It's hard for her to tell whether she's better or worse off than she was before she quit. The trouble getting out of bed, the lack of hobbies or socializing, all that good _depression_ stuff - that's been there for _months._ Since before Nicki quit, even. But at least there was some kind of hope that maybe, maybe, _maybe,_ things would fix themselves, or she'd find a way to make it work, and she'd be able to keep her job, and get Nicki back, and stop having nightmares all the time, and stop staying up at night thinking about the animals she put away -

And now, she doesn't even have that. There's possibility ahead of her, but nothing resembling hope.

Has it been fifteen minutes yet? Eh. Inhale, hold for five -

_Knock, knock._

Judy sighs. Not really, because she has another two seconds before she's _supposed_ to exhale, but she sighs with her brain. "Come in," she croaks - careful not to let any more smoke slip out than necessary - and settles back into her pillows.

Nicki's key turns in the lock. "Hey, Judy - "

_Exhale._

She opens her eyes. Nicki is still standing in the doorway, a small frown blemishing her pretty, adorable, _beautiful_ face. Judy cracks a smile. No point in making the fox worry about her. "Heyyyyyyy, Nicki," she slurs. "Morning."

Nicki pointedly glances outside. "It's 5PM."

Judy just shrugs, and Nicki lets out a sigh of her own. She sets a grocery bag onto the couch as she bustles into the room - Judy had always thought of _bustling_ as something reserved for moms and self-important rich animals trying to get someone arrested for cutting in line, and yet here's Nicki, bustling as good as anyone had ever bustled before. Her friend is full of nothing if not surprises.

Wait. Back on track, Judy.

"You mind if I crack a window?"

Nicki has, for the moment, stopped bustling and resorted to staring out the window. Neither of them can deny that it doesn't smell _great_ in the room (unless you like the smell of stale air muddled with weed smoke (which, now that she thinks about it, Judy _is_ developing a fondness for)), but - _"Ugh._ It's so _gross_ out, though."

Nicki dips her head in a brief nod. The summer is sweltering, to be sure, and all Judy has as a defense is the rickety fan rattling away in the corner. Still, Nicki can't stop her nose from wrinkling. "It smells like something died in here."

"Something _did_ die."

"Oh, yeah?"

Judy sprawls in the most dramatic way possible. "My _innocence."_

Nicki snorts. She gives the bed a glance. Rabbits aren't _really_ nesting creatures, not like foxes - but Judy's picked up more from Nicki than a penchant for weed. The swirl of pillows, discarded clothes, electronics, weed paraphernalia, and food wrappers isn't a great nest, but it's a nest all the same.

It is also _deeply_ depressing to look at. Nicki can't imagine it feels great to live in.

Judy hasn't been doing great, and it's only thanks to having had more time to cope that Nicki isn't right at the bottom with her. Yeah, she's still doing _basically_ this, but her nests are a little bit neater, her apartment a little bit cleaner, and - unlike Judy, apparently - she relishes the chance to go outside with friends. Nicki isn't sure when the last time Judy left her _bed_ was.

This is also, to some degree, Nicki's fault. As the bag of groceries on the sofa implies, Nicki has been helping out when she can - which sometimes just means a shoulder to cry on, and sometimes means making sure her (ex-(?))partner is bathing and eating. Speaking of which: "Have you eaten?"

Judy pats an empty bag of chips in response. Nicki frowns - "No, like, _real_ food."

"Oh." Judy's smile fades. "No."

"Showered?"

"Not yet."

"Brushed your teeth?"

Any amusement Judy was holding on to disappears as she scowls and turns on her side, looking away from the fox. "Lay off, Nicki," she mutters - not angry, really; or at least - not at Nicki.

Nicki takes a deep breath. She's letting her sympathy and frustration mix, and that's a bad cocktail for this situation. "I'm just worried about you," Nicki says. She doesn't get a reply. (People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, Nicki knows that, and she's just _barely_ upgraded to a cloth foundation.) "I - I know you need time, but - "

"I'm just doing what makes me happy." Judy shrinks in on herself as she says it. It's a lie, and they both know it - this doesn't make her _happy,_ as much as it just makes her, well, okay - but they let it slide. It's close enough to the truth.

Nicki sighs, and sits beside her. For a moment, Judy isn't sure where this is going - is she settling in for a fight? It wouldn't be the first time. The first time in recent memory, maybe, but they'd fought before, and a slightly-too-lively debate was familiar ground for them. But Nicki just settles in. Lets her paw land somewhere between Judy's ears and scratches _right_ where she likes it, so slow and so gentle that she might as well have not been there at all.

Judy is a little mad at Nicki, maybe, but she swears she loves her.

She just wishes she knew what to _do_ about it.

Despite them being ten or so days out from their smoke session-slash-'mutual agreement that they should probably hook up at some point, probably,' neither of them have taken it upon themselves to cross that barrier. They've cuddled, here and there, and what Nicki's doing probably isn't _totally platonic,_ but their relationship is practically _built_ on lingering on the edges of romance. Judy isn't really sure how they function together, if not with a constant stream of smirking will-they-won't-they definitely-not-flirting banter.

She hopes Nicki's got some ideas.

"Let's get out of here, huh?"

Nicki's voice is soft, and Judy's ear twitches in response. Half out of petulant spite, she mutters, "Don't wanna get out."

"Being cooped up in here isn't good for you, Carrots. You gotta leave _some_ time."

"No I don't."

Something that Judy could only describe as a _maternal_ edge creeps into Nicki's voice. "...If you _don't,_ I'm going to stop bringing you groceries."

"Fine."

 _"And_ I'm going to stop bringing you weed."

Judy's head shoots up (a bit too fast, and for a moment, the room sways like it's all on springs). There's more energy in her glare than she's had in _weeks._ "You _wouldn't."_

Nicki smiles, and reveals - cupped within her other, not-Judy-scratching hand - a suspiciously familiar baggie. And then, just like that, it's gone again, disappeared into her back pocket. "Try me."

"Nicki Wilde, if you don't give me that weed back right now - "

Nicki's grin splits _wide,_ teeth splayed in a cocky grin that Judy has desperately missed. "You'll get it back," she coos. _"After_ you put on some clean clothes and come with me."

Judy fumes, but her shoulders slump. She knows she's not going to win this one.

She tries to ignore the satisfied little smile on Nicki's face as she drags herself out of bed and goes in search of the cleanest clothes she has, but damn it, she's cute even when she's smug.

 

It's been a hot minute since Judy's been outside.

Depression will do that to you. The bile in the back of her throat every time she hears a patrol car's siren is probably also a contributing factor. Everything outside reminds her of The Job - illegally parked cars, bikes on the sidewalk, the drunk across the street catcalling every woman of every species that walks by, the two wastoids that are _definitely_ high in public -

Oh, wait. That's them.

Judy's never been high in public. Not like she's not _blasted_ or anything - just a little buzzed. Honestly, it's making this whole thing a little easier. Having Nicki there helps, too. She hasn't said _what_ they're doing, though she obviously has something planned; instead, she's just keeping up a steady flow of jokes, observations, and anecdotes, doing anything she can to keep Judy's mind active and off of The Job.

The first block is hard, but the second is easier. By the time her feet hit the sidewalk of the fourth, she can _almost_ convince herself that everything's normal and she and Nicki are just on their day off, walking downtown for an early dinner (somewhere cheap and dimly lit), and she can step back and revel in how much she missed _Zootopia_. Her dream job might have soured, but the city feels as vibrant as ever.

And then she sees red and blue lights, and her stomach falls.

Her steps slow, and Nicki continues ahead, momentarily oblivious - but it doesn't take long before she realizes she's talking to thin air and notices what Judy did. She frowns, not that Judy notices; her gaze is firmly fixed on the distant flashing, wondering at the colors melding with the orange of the setting sun and what they might signal. Car accident? Murder? Noise complaint? Domestic disturbance?

Drug bust?

She starts at Nicki's hand on her shoulder, and all of a sudden it's like nothing's wrong; all it takes is an "Anyways," and Nicki's launching right back into her anecdote, gently steering Judy back the way they came and around the corner. There's more than one way to skin a cat, as Nicki is fond of saying (to Judy's utter horror), and a short detour is a small price to pay for Judy's comfort.

The subway station is crowded, this time of day. Judy looks up at her companion as they shuffle past haggard animals, desperate to get home and as far away from their workplaces as possible. "We're leaving Central?"

Nicki nods. "Yep. We're gonna grab, uh - " She stops dead in her tracks, staring at the subway map. "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - "

"Are you okay?"

"I'm a lot higher than I thought, apparently."

Nicki slaps at her face as Judy breaks down into a messy pile of giggles. "Okay okay okay," she mutters, "We've got to take, the, uh... the red to Marshland, and then grab the inner loop to... Moss."

Judy's nose twitches as she shoves down the last of her giggles. "Isn't Moss where we - ?"

Nicki groans. "Aww, _Carrots._ You weren't supposed to figure it out until we _got there!"_

"Sorry," she snickers.

"Date. _Ruined."_

That puts a little extra perk in her ears. "...This is a date?"

Nicki blinks at her. "Oh. Well, um...I mean, kind of, if - if that's okay? I mean, not a formal one, or - "

Judy just slips her paw into the fox's in answer.

 

It's a tad bit _predictable,_ maybe, but there's still a little romantic swell in Judy's heart when the gondola swings into view.

 

Zootopia is so, so beautiful at sunset.

"You know, I've thought about this a lot. What our first date would be like." Judy tilted her head to the side. "Maybe a nice dinner in some secluded, quiet restaurant. A trip to the fair, culminating in romantic trip up to the top of the Ferris Wheel. Maybe we'd be at a wedding, and you'd ask me to dance, and I'd say of course - and there, right at the end of it, where everyone could see it, you'd sweep me off of my feet." Judy considered the skyline for a moment. "Weed never fit into any of those."

"Nah," Nicki coughed out, a plume of smoke following the single syllable - "It's a lot more fun like this though, right?"

"Oh, for sure."

Zootopia has never been this beautiful at sunset before.

Judy is realizing exactly how beautiful a _lot_ of things are. The distant glimmers of the sun dancing across the river below. The way its colors freeze and linger as they try to pierce the dense clouds below.

The gentle purple shadows of their little gondola, washing over the floor and their legs.

The way the little ember at the end of a joint pushes those shadows back from Nicki's face.

Nicki's face. Just, in general.

Ohhhh boy she is high.

Not the highest she's ever been, but high enough that she's wrapped around from Extremely Calm back to anxiety about, uh, all of this?, the Job, the Weed, the Date, thank god she isn't afraid of heights - wait, unless, is she?, like that would be a completely rational thing to have, but then -

Oh that's a bad train of thought to be going down. Thinking about Nicki more is probably a better idea.

Except maybe not a great idea, because Judy's lost track of what Nicki's talking about already (and truthfully, so has Nicki), and is instead focusing on the warring forces of "she's so cute you have to kiss her _now"_ and worrying about, well...

What if Nicki doesn't _really_ like her?

Which is dumb and illogical and irrational but damn if Judy hasn't proven herself to be all of those things lately. Some little part of her is _convinced_ that if she goes for this now, Nicki is immediately going to realize that all of this was a mistake and leave, and Judy thinks that maybe always having that fear is tolerable if it means that they can keep doing _this,_ the whole, smoking weed together almost every day and going on little chaste dates like this and just, doing what they're already doing, forever.

There's also the, uh, small problem, that, well -

Judy doesn't really know what she's doing?

Like, she gets how _kissing_ works, and how _sex_ works, she's just... never really had time to put theory to practice. Not while she was in school, not while she was in the academy, and not while she was on the force. Breaking barriers takes a _lot_ of extra work, and there are only so many hours in the day. Trying to manage platonic and professional relationships was hard enough, and entering a field more or less _devoid_ of mammals her own size hadn't left her with a whole lot of options, anyways.

So, so - so what. So she's twenty-something and she's never kissed someone. Big deal. Animals with far less ambition and success than her kiss all the time.

No biggie.

And yet... here she is. Sitting on the monorail, leaning up against Nicki's side, pretending to stare at the city when really, she's staring at Nicki's face, thinking about how much she'd like to kiss it and how impossible that seems.

"Something on your mind, Hopps?"

She snaps out of it to find that the muzzle she's been staring at has broken into a (very _(very)_ toothy) grin. "No, just zoning out" is what she means to say. But - maybe she's just high, or maybe, somewhere down deep, there's a little part of the Old Her left that sees something she wants and decides to just _go for it_ \- instead she finds herself saying, "Can I kiss you?"

Nicki blinks - momentarily surprised by her forwardness, and then just as quickly, thrilled to see Judy acting like _Judy_ again. She opens her mouth, reaches for a quip (some little jibe about whether or not she's scared of the Big Bad Fox, maybe, or some mock bored "oh I guess if I _have_ to"), but finds herself, for the first time in a long while, coming up empty.

So she settles for "Sure."

 

The sun is below the horizon, and they've left the gondola behind. A good first date, all in all. Good conversation, good weed, a nice first kiss (and _then_ some), and a pleasant buzz to carry them the rest of the way home. While she can't vouch for Judy, the silly grin that keeps popping onto her face indicates that she had just as good a time as Nicki did.

Although Nicki liked to play up the _smooth talking, suave ladykiller_ angle every now and again, she'd long since confessed to Judy that her love life wasn't really _that_ active. Hadn't been since high school. A couple dates, here and there, but rarely had they ever led to a second or a third. She'd always thought that was on her - for moving too fast, for not moving fast enough, for her obvious discomfort with being a Guy On A Date -

But then again, she'd never gone a date with anyone as cool as Judy.

Not that she'd ever call Judy cool to her face. The rabbit would've scoffed at her, anyways; that's just not the way it _is_ with them. Judy is excitable and sincere about _everything,_ and Nicki radiates a mildly disinterested cool even while she's asleep. But truth be told, she envies Judy's zeal for, well, _everything._ Nicki might embodied the cool of ten years ago, but Judy's the one constantly pushing the envelope in all things she does.

She was worried that that part of Judy had disappeared, but tonight proved that she was still there - she just needed a little coaxing to come out.

Nicki swears to herself, then and there, that she's going to do whatever she can to keep that part of her alive.

Not right now, though. Now, she's pulling Judy in tight and closing her eyes against the late night comings and goings of the subway car. They opted to take the long way back home, again; more time to peoplewatch and soak in the mundane lives of the citizenry they were now part of; more time to cuddle and watch the city fly past.

So much _noise._

"This was nice."

Nicki hums her assent. "I'm glad you liked it. I was a little worried it was too obvious a setting."

"Well, it _was - "_

"Gee, thanks."

"But I still appreciated it." The warmth and contentment in Judy's voice is genuine, and even in the middle of the summer, it's refreshing to hear. "You know how to treat a girl right."

Nicki chuckles. "It was a team effort."

"Sure," Judy laughs with a roll of her eyes.

"Seriously! This wouldn't have been _half_ as fun if I'd been by myself."

"All I did was show up and smoke your weed."

"You gave me something pretty to look at - "

"Besides the sunset?"

"Sunset's got nothing on you." Nicki has to suppress a laugh at Judy's sudden blush. _"And_ you were sparkling conversation, and you taught me a lot about the particulars of eminent domain, _and_ we made out a little. And that's no fun by yourself. You made this _more_ than twice as good just by being here."

Judy looks out the window, something smile-adjacent at play on her face. "Well," she yawns, "any time you want to blackmail me into being social, I'm game."

"Noted."

The river surges into view outside. Somewhere, across the water and well past the lights flickering on the shore, Bunnyburrow is sleeping. As if she can read Nicki's mind, Judy sighs, and nestles her head into her partner's shoulder. The little rabbit is crashing _fast;_ not particularly hard, but it's late, and even Nicki's starting to get tired. She doesn't mind being a makeshift pillow, though. It's not the first time.

A paw weakly squeezes her arm. "Thanks, Nicki. For sticking around."

Nicki squeezes her right back. "Right back at you, Fluff."

Her eyelids droop even further. "It's rough," she finally mumbles. "Feeling like - like there's nothing under me. Like it's some cartoon, and I just ran off the cliff, and any second now, I'm gonna look down and start falling."

Nicki's grip. "You've got me, Judy."

Judy worms her face farther into the crook of her partner's shoulder. Her voice shakes. "Sorry for not catching you."

Nicki doesn't respond. Just pulls her closer and holds her there, long after the rabbit has fallen into restless, uncomfortable dreams.

**Author's Note:**

> hey thanks for reading. i wrote most of this chapter with a pretty ok buzz going so sorry if it's bad. more chapters coming eventually.


End file.
